The Tail of Zelgadis
by Earth Star
Summary: When Zelgadis breaks into the earth temple, he encounters a problem he wasn't expecting.


Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or this series and I don't wish to make any profits from writing this story.

It was sinfully simple to break into the earth temple. Despite its large size, few guards were posted at the gates or inside. Thick vines had conquered the thick walls surrounding the temple and clearly the money from the lack of guards went into the various flowers and blossoms that flourish in every inch and corner of the garden. Zelgadis was positive at least this place held at least one of every single plant that was known to exist. There was little moonlight thanks to the cloudy sky and most of the priests were sound asleep in their beds. Zelgadis almost felt sorry for breaking in. Almost. The pity was tossed aside as he recalled the money the priests charged for letting people enter the holy chamber; they could afford better security.

The pity was tossed aside as he levitated over the high wall and landed. Dried leaves crunched beneath his shoes as he glanced around the area. Seeing no one, he rushed towards the building and hide behind the corridor. According to the maps he read it was in the top floor, the holy chamber was not too far from here.

He briefly wondered if he should have invited Lina to tag along. She was as eager as he was to read the ancient documents the temple was rumored to contain. The priests were trained in shaman magic and this particular temple was dedicated to the spirit of the earth. It was said to be one of the oldest temples in the world to date back before Ceiphied fought Shabranigdu, but that could have been the priests exaggerating to gain more tourists.

Even if the temple was that old, the price they demanded to view the documents was ridiculous. He was equally as furious as Lina. Normally, Zelgadis didn't care about having to pay, but the price that the priests were demanding was enough to buy a mansion. It was impossible for Zelgadis to pay, so the group left with him grumbling loudly. A poor vase fell victim to Lina's fury as they left the temple. There was some satisfaction in that.

This of course left Zelgadis to his last resort, breaking in. He knew Amelia would scold him when he got back, but he would worry about that later. He ran down the long dark hall and came upon a giant door. Symbols of plants and wild animals were carved into the wood and rubies were en crested along the edge.

The door looked exactly has it had been described from what he read. He turned the knob and to his shock and amusement found it unlocked. "This is too easy," he muttered with a smirk.

He cast a lighting spell as he entered the chamber and made a beeline for one of the many shelves of books. He felt a tingled go through his body, but he wrote it off as excitement. He ran his finger along the book spines and found one on the history of shaman magic and began to scan the pages. "There must be something in here," he muttered.

"I'm telling you I heard something!"

Zelgadis cursed as he heard feet moving towards the chamber. "Damn, and I've barely gotten started." He tucked the book into his astral pocket as he heard more shouts. "The door is open! Someone is in the holy chamber."

Zelgadis quickly cast a levitation spell and flew towards the window. Strangely, it took longer than normal and he was heavier. "Don't tell me I'm gaining weight," he mumbled aloud as he landed on the ledge.

The guard charged inside as Zelgadis opened the glass window. "Stop intruder!"

Zelgadis stood and lifted his foot forward, ready to jump off the edge. "As if I would listen to-" He tripped. Something wrapped around his ankle and caused him to trip. With an undignified cry, he hollered a surprised yell and fell straight into the alleyway below. He fell face first into the cobble stone street and a loud crack was heard. Moaning, he slowly sat up and gazed at the broken stones around him. "That was embarrassing," he grumbled. He pushed up against his knees, shaking off his hurt pride and tried to ignored the Zelgadis shaped crater below him. "In any case, I need to leave before-" Once again, something wrapped around his ankle and he tripped back in the crater.

Snarling, Zelgadis flipped onto his back. "What the hell did I catch on to?" He was dumbfound. No, stunned was the more appropriate word. The tip of a light blue dragon type tail was twisted around his ankle. His eyes followed the tail which seemed to reach behind him. Fearfully, Zelgadis extended his hands and stroke his lower back and found the beginning of the tail, sticking out from himself.

Zelgadis would have fainted if he hadn't just then heard the guards yelling from the temple. Shaking, Zelgadis wrapped the tail around his waist and ran. "I'm never going to hear the end of this from Lina."

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Lina drummed her fingers against her elbow. "So, you're certain you haven't seen him?"

Gourry shook his head, leaning against the door frame to his room. "Last time I saw him, he came in here to clean up, pulled his hood over his head and left."

"And he didn't say where he was going?" Amelia asked, although she suspected exactly where he was. She had a full lecture forming in her head and was tempted to follow Lina's example and hit Zelgadis with a slipper when he returned.

Gourry shook his head. "Nope, but it's not like he normally bothers to tell us."

"I'll bet five gold coins he went back to that stupid temple," Lina grumbled, folding her arms. "Granted, I can't blame him" She threw a fist in the air. "I'm tempted to go and ransack that whole temple for what those swindlers tried to pull."

"Could you not?" Gourry replied. "I'm not in the mood to be run out of town today."

"This isn't funny," Amelia cut in. "If Mister Zelgadis did go back to the temple we need to go stop him." She frowned and glared at Lina. "I would have kept a better eye on him, if I hadn't been distracted by you trying to steal my slice of chocolate cake."

"Hey, it wasn't fair that you got the inn's last slice!" Lina snapped.

Gourry scratched his head. "What's the big deal? Zel sneaks into old temples and libraries all the time."

Amelia sighed. "Yes, but I've read about this particular temple and the earth spirit is famous for punishing intruders with curses."

"What kind of curse?"

Amelia bite her lower lip. "I don't know, the text I read wasn't specific, but we need to find him!"

Lina waved her hand unconvinced. "You're worrying too much. I'll bet you anything it was probably just a rumor created by those cheap priests to scare people off who didn't pay."

"But-"

A heavy thump came from behind them. The trio turned around to find a startled Zelgadis climbing up the stairs. "Well, speak of the devil," Lina muttered.

Zelgadis's cape was wrapped tightly around him as he stared back at the group puzzled. "You're all still up?"

Amelia rushed to him nearly tripping in her haste. "Mister Zelgadis, are you alright? Please, tell me you didn't break into the earth temple."

There was brief movement beneath his cape. Gourry blinked and slowly walked around him. Zelgadis paid him no mind as he coughed and avoided Amelia's eye contact. "No, I went to the library instead to do some research."

Lina raised an eyebrow and Amelia's shoulders relaxed. "Thank goodness. I was so worried." No one seem to noticed Gourry bending to his knees and eye Zelgadis's cape.

"The library?" Lina asked, placing her hands on her hips. "You really went there after being denied access to one of the supposedly most ancient temples on the planet?" She leaned her upper body forward and stared straight into Zelgadis's face. "I don't buy it. You're hiding something."

Amelia frowned. "Actually, that does seem to be out of character for you."

Zelgadis sweated and choked as both girls stared at him. He squirmed and desperately racked his brain for a way out of this interrogation. "I'm not hiding anything. So, if you don't mind I would rather be alone-"

At the moment, Gourry lifted Zelgadis's cape. Zelgadis yelped along with Amelia. Lina stared shocked, but she couldn't decided if it was over the sense of deja vu or at what she was seeing. "Z-Zel, is that a tail?"

Zelgadis yanked his cape back from Gourry's grasped and wrapped it around himself to conceal the tail. "Gourry! What were you doing?"

Gourry dropped his hands to his sides, taking in the surprise. "I saw movement and was wondering what it was." He paused. "Funny, this scenario feels familiar, but less painful."

"It would be more painful if I had my hands free," Zelgadis mumbled. He would find a way to seek revenge for this.

"Forget that!" Amelia demanded. "That was a tail! Mister Zelgadis you got yourself cursed didn't you?"

Zelgadis stared back. "Wait, Amelia you know what caused this?"

Lina placed two fingers into her mouth to blow an ear piercing whistle. "Time out, let's go into the boys' room first, I doubt Zel here wants to become a side attraction for the other guests."

Zelgadis nodded with a blush and proceeded to head to the room. Gourry stayed where he stood and scratched his head. "Tail? Who else had a tail?"

"Gourry, get your butt in here before I drag you!" Lina snapped.

Gourry sighed and followed. "You know, I would have an easier time to remember things if you didn't rush me."

Once the door was securely locked, the groups eyes fell onto Zelgadis. Defeated, Zelgadis stared at his shoes as he removed his cape and let his tail dropped. Intrigued, Amelia drew closer and gently touched the skin. Zelgadis blushed madly as she examined it. "It's looks a lot like a dragon's tail, but it's made of stone." She folded her arms and stood straight. "I'm glad the divine punishment isn't as bad as I feared."

Zelgadis twitched and causing his tail to shake in anger. "Not as bad! Amelia, I've grown a tail!"

Amelia's eyes narrowed. "Well, considering I was scared of the earth spirit turning you into a tree, yes I do say this is better and you did bring this on yourself Mister Zelgadis." She waved her finger at him. "I've told you, you need to stop breaking into places without permission!"

Zelgadis grumbled as he sat on the end of the bed.

Lina laughed. "Aw, come on Zel, it's not that bad. So you got a tail now, you look so adorable! We can even go find you a nice ribbon to tie a bow at the end like Filia's."

Amelia paused and tapped her chin. "I do have some blue ribbon with me. Normally, it's for my hair-"

"I'm not wearing a bow!" Zelgadis hollered, fueling the rage that had been building. "And I am not living with this thing."

Gourry turned a chair around and let his arms hang over the back. "We could just cut it off," Gourry suggested.

Zelgadis paled and shivered. "Considering that would be equal to having my arm cut off, I'll save that as my last resort."

"Plus, it would be a pain in the butt to find a magical weapon to cut it off," Lina replied. "Amelia, don't suppose one of your white magic spells would work."

Amelia moved to Zelgadis's side to inspect the tail. "I can try, but this was a curse by the earth spirit itself. Curses by spirits, mazoku and higher beings are hard to remove."

"Please, just try," Zelgadis begged.

Amelia sighed and chanted softly. Her hands glowed with magic and she grasped Zelgadis's tail. His whole tail was instantly engulfed, but when Amelia removed her hands, the light died and the tail still remained. Zelgadis slouched forward, like a student who've been given a five hundred page text to study within one night.

"I'm sorry Mister Zelgadis, but I tried."

Lina stroked her chin. "Our only option now is to go to the temple and ask them. Surely, they must know how to remove the curse."

"But would they want to help Lina?" Gourry asked. "Zel did break into their temple."

"You and I will go alone and we'll leave Zelgadis here. Those priests aren't the brightest, so if we just say we're doing research it should be fine."

Zelgadis raised his head, if he looked back he would have noticed his tail started to wag back and forth like a dog and Amelia holding back a squeal. "Thanks, Lina."

Lina frowned and pointed a finger. "However, those greedy priests won't give us that info without a price and I'm not paying, RIGHT." She made sure to emphasis the last word. "It's not fair to have me pay for your mistake."

Zelgadis sighed and reached for his coin purse. "Fine, think this will be enough."

Lina grinned and happily took the pouch and opened it. "This should be plenty, for the priests and your fee."

Amelia blinked. "What fee Miss Lina?"

"For me, it's only fair for forcing me to deal with those stupid priests again."

Zelgadis groaned and his tail dropped. "Why do I get the feeling it would have been cheaper to pay those priests in the first place."

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Amelia stayed with Zelgadis while Lina and Gourry went to the temple the next morning. Zelgadis was not in a good mood. His ego was still healing from having to grow a tail, but the discovery that sleeping with a tail proved to be quite difficult since Zelgadis was used to sleeping on his back. How Filia could sleep in human form with her tail, he'll never know. He had spend the entire night constantly being woken up from being poked by his tail.

Amelia tried to cheer Zelgadis up by buying breakfast for him. She had it brought up to his room since he didn't want to risk exposing his tail while trying to spread jam on his toast. He's mood seem to lighten up while he sipped his hot cup of tea, although he was forced to sit on the edge of his bed since he found it difficult to properly sit in a chair and eat.

Gourry's suggestion of having his tail be chopped off was sounding more tempting by the minute. Just was Amelia was about to ask if she really could tie a ribbon to his tail, Lina and Gourry entered.

Zelgadis sat his tea on his saucer and stood, making sure his tail didn't tip over the small tray his breakfast was on.

"How did you make out?"

Lina exchanged an annoyed glanced with Gourry and sighed. "Well, I got some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?"

Zelgadis gulped, praying the bad news wasn't that he was stuck with this thing until he was an old man. "Bad news." He might as well get it over with.

"The priest's can't remove the curse, they don't have the power or the knowledge to do it."

"That's can't be!' Amelia cried. "Justice would never allow-"

"Hold on," Lina replied, holding up her hand. "I said there was good news didn't I?" She winked. "After some haggling-"

"As in threatening to turn their prize rose bush to ashes," Gourry muttered and grunted when Lina poked him in the ribs.

"As I said," Lina growled. "Turns out, there is someone that can remove the curse. The head earth priestess and they didn't like to admit it but she does it for free."

Zelgadis felt the world, which felt equal the same wait as his tail, was lifted from his shoulders. "Good, when can we see her?"

Lina sweated and rubbed her neck. "That's the tricky part. Seems she had a falling out with the other priests, I'm thinking it was how much they were charging people, and went to live on the mountain outside of town."

Gourry sighed, slouching his face lacing any enthusiasm. "In other words, we're going to have climb to the top of it to find her."

Zelgadis moaned and stared back at his new attachment. He could already feel the ache and pain he would he would suffer from repeatedly tripping over the darn thing. "And this thing is just going to be fun dragging up the mountain."

Amelia tapped her chin. "Can't you just wrap it around your waist?"

Zelgadis held the tip of his tail. "I can, but it's heavy and I have a hard time keeping it there. It was hard enough trying to hide from the earth temple priests and sneak back here."

Gourry placed his hand behind his head. "Why don't you get something to tie it in place?"

Lina tilted her head in thought. "Not a bad idea, but we don't have any rope."

Amelia beamed. "I know what we could use!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out the thick blue ribbon. "I have more than enough here to do the job."

Zelgadis moaned and held out his hand for the blue ribbon.

The trail up the mountain was steeped. According to the priests, the priestess lived in a cabin at the top of the mountain. It was told to be a holy spot for meditation and to communicate with the earth. Of course, Zelgadis couldn't help but wonder why the temple wasn't build there instead of the city, but after seeing the mountain he imagine the ancients would have difficulty bringing materials up here to build the temple. He had a hard enough time to climb with the added weight of his tail around his weight, especially since he would have the only tail in the world that was made from stone.

The added weight around his waist did it hard to keep his balance. He was careful to watch any stray root or rock that he could trip on. It was the exact reason why he insisted to take up the rear as the group hiked up the mountain. He figured if he lost his balance, it would be better that he didn't risk taking anyone else with him. It was also uncomfortable, his tail wasn't aching from being wrapped around his waist, but his tail was begging to break free.

Strangely, Amelia's blue ribbon did hold. It was useful even if the big bow in the middle where she tied it stung his dignity. Once the footing seemed more leveled and there was less chance of him tripping, Zelgadis deemed it safe to release his tail. He briskly untie the bow and let it drop and drag behind him. As irritating as it was, it felt good to free his tail.

"How are you holding up Mister Zelgadis?" Amelia asked from a few steps ahead.

He sighed as his tail dragged in the dirt and got caught on a tree root. "I'll be fine once I'm rid of this stupid thing." He gave his tail a hard yank, not caring that it tore out the root with it.

"She should be around here somewhere," Lina replied, as she grabbed hold of a tree trunk to rub her sore feet. "And if I have to climb anymore I'm Dragon Slaving this whole mountain."

Amelia rolled her eyes. "Miss Lina must you-"

Gourry quickly shushed Amelia and rushed in front of Lina, grabbing onto the hilt of his sword. "Quiet, I heard something."

Zelgadis froze. "I hear it too, something is coming. And it's big."

Lina was about to argue, when they heard a rumble. The ground shook beneath their toes. Leaves fell from the tree branches and Zelgadis could feel the vibrations shaking in his bones. "What the hell?"

Suddenly a voice yelled "Take this you cheap wads!"

A giant boulder came bursting over the hill. It rolled and tumbled at top speed, flattening every tree stump in it's path.

"What in the world?' Amelia cried.

Lina darted forward. "Amelia cast a barrier spell. Everyone get down! Bomb Di Wind!"

The wind spell struck hard and the boulder exploded. Debris of rock and earth scattered everywhere. Amelia finished casting her barrier just in time as the sharp stabbing rocks flew towards them. Once the dust settled, Amelia dropped the barrier. "What on earth was that?"

"I'm thinking someone doesn't want us here," Gourry replied spitting the stray dirt that had fallen into his mouth.

"No kidding!" Lina shot back.

Zelgadis opened his mouth, but was cut off.

"So, you cheapskates can cast barriers now! Now it's time to play hard ball"

Zelgadis looked up and pointed. At the top of the hill, stood a figure, from the voice it sounded like a woman. She was rubbing her hands together and sounded gleeful. "Good, I haven't had a good work out in ages!"

"Please don't tell me that's the priestess," Zelgadis mumbled, pondering if he'd been born under an unlucky star.

"Okay, it's not the priestess," Gourry replied. "But with our luck she probably is."

The woman slammed her fist into the ground. "Dug Haut!"

Spikes speared from the ground and shot towards them. The group dodged and Zelgadis rolled to his knees. "Two can play this game, Mega brand!"

The earth exploded straight up the trail. The old woman gave a yelp and was caught in the blast. Zelgadis grinned, certain he got her, but to his shock the debris cleared and he saw her dusting the dirt from her robe.

"Good try sonny!" the woman cheered, 'But it will take a hundred years for that to effect me."

"What the hell is she made of," Zelgadis muttered, rising to his feet.

Laughing manically. "Let's see you priests take on a mega brando-"

"WILL YOU KNOCK IT OFF!" Lina yelled. "We're not those stupid priests!"

"Like I'm going to believe..." The woman paused. "Wait, you sound like a girl?"

"Of course I'm a girl!" Lina screamed, offended of even being suggested of being a boy. "Are you blind lady!"

The woman was silent and with one motion of her hand, she slid straight down the trail like she was riding a wave. Upon closer inspection, they had a clearer view of the woman. Her hair was short and grey and it appeared it been months since her robes had a decent cleaning.

Steadily, she reached into her pocket and with a flick of her wrist revealed a pair of glasses and put them on. "For your information, I don't see very well without my glasses, sweetie." She blinked as she stared at each person. "Hey, you really aren't those stingy priests."

"Of course we're not!" Amelia replied annoyed. "You should look before you go attacking innocent people."

The priestess laughed and patted her head like she was her granddaughter. "Sorry about that, but the only people who bother coming up here are those stingy old men who keep begging me to come back."

"I think just giving a simple 'No' would be less dangerous," Gourry replied.

"Yes, but a boulder just gives a clear message!"

Zelgadis sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Great, just what we need. A person that is as insane as Lina." His head was suddenly greeted by a hard whack. He rubbed his head and stared astounded to see the priestess take back her hand without a single flinch. "Watch your tongue sonny, and this insane person has a name. It's Topa."

Lina blinked stunned. _When I did that my hand throbbed until I cast a healing spell. _She rubbed her own hand at the memory.

Amelia coughed in regain control. "We're sorry for the intrusion Miss Topa, but we need your help to remove curse."

The old priestess frowned and folded her arms. "I figured it was that. The only ones that come to visit me are my friends, who are smart enough to not take this route and people who got themselves curse." She looked to each member. "So, which of you youngings got the Earth Spirit pissed?"

Zelgadis felt a vein throb as he lifted up his tail. "Who does it look like it got cursed? Do you not see my huge tail?"

"I'm not a mind reader sonny, and curses from the Earth Spirit comes in a lot of varity" the woman shot back. "Besides, I've seen a lot of weird critters in this world, how I am I suppose to know you weren't born with that?"

"She has a point," Gourry replied as Zelgadis closed his mouth in silent agreement.

Topa rubbed her hands as she step closer. "So, I'm assuming it's just the tail is it? Let my have a closer look."

Zelgadis felt reluctant, but he lifted the tip of his tail for her to hold. Topa closed her eyes and ran her fingers over it. "My, my you're just covered in stone, you sure that's not part of the curse too?"

"Positive," Zelgadis replied.

"Wait, I can sense the difference." She opened her eyes and let the tail drop. "Yup, you really ticked him off. What did you do?"

"He kind of broke into the holy chamber," Lina replied. "Although, to be fair those priests were asking too much for price."

Topa sighed. "I hear ya, it's why I left, but tradition is tradition. If you break in the temple or do anything to it without permission, you'll offend the Earth Spirit." She turned on her heel and gestured for the others to follow. "You're lucky that the curse is easy to remove. You have to apprise the spirit by dousing yourself in the earth spirit's holy spring which is at the top here."

"Is that all?" Amelia asked, amazed. "I thought we would have to make a personal sacrifice?" She'd been worrying Zelgadis would have to make an offering of blood, or worse yet kill a poor innocent woodland creature. It was a rare tradition now, but it was the tradition in ancient times.

Topa grinned evily. "Well, to be fair it's a sacrifice of pride, but it's not what you're thinking of sweetie."

"Oh, goody," Zelgadis mumbled as he followed.

The walk was short. Within minutes they reached the top of the mountain and spotted a small log cabin at the top of the mountain. It was small, but it appeared decent and well built. Topa remained silent as she lead the group around it. "The spring is back here. Better prepare for yourself sonny."

Zelgadis didn't care. So he had to get wet and give himself a bath. It wasn't nearly as bad as he feared. His relaxation vanished as soon as they turned the wall and saw the spring. Zelgadis and been picturing a crystal clear pool of fresh water. Seeing a giant mud puddle instead made his toe nails curl. The mud bubble as if it was mocking him. He heard similar gasps from Amelia, Lina and Gourry.

"Here we are!" Topa declared proudly.

"Are you kidding me?" Zelgadis cried, while his tail wagged violently. "Where's the water?"

Topa raised an eyebrow. "I said you had to cleanse yourself in the holy spring, but I never said it was a spring of water. Why would the Earth Spring have a spring of water? That makes no sense. Use your head."

"So," Lina replied slowly. "The Earth Spirit has a holy spring of mud?"

"Correct."

"And Zelgadis has to appease the spirit by covering himself in mud?" She fought hard to hold back her giggles.

"Again, correct."

Her laughter broke free. She wrapped her arms around her stomach as her uncontrollable laughter took over. "Ha! Ha! Oh man, this is even better than him growing a tail!" She slapped her knee. "Does he have to make a mud pie too?"

"Miss Lina, it's not that funny!" Amelia paused. "Okay, it's a bit funny, but it's not the proper time for that."

Zelgadis sighed, glanced at his tail and pulled himself together. "Fine, let's get this over with." He took a step forward, but was blocked by Topa's legs.

"Hold it sonny, you got to strip first."

Zelgadis paled. "Strip? You mean..."

She nodded. "You have to be completely naked, remember I mentioned it would be a sacrifice of pride?"

"Ha! Ha!" Lina continued. "Correction, now THIS is really funny."

Zelgadis snarled, steam was coming out of his nose. "Fine! Whatever, I'm getting rid of this tail no matter what it takes." He began to remove his cape and turned to Amelia, Lina and Topa. "And would you mind turning around?"

"Of course we will," Amelia replied, blushing madly.

Lina grinned and snapped her fingers. "Aw, but I was looking forward to the free strip show."

"LINA," Zelgadis growled.

Lina turned around while she waved her hand. "Relax, we're turning."

As Zelgadis handed his clothes over to Gourry, Lina grinned evilly. "Say Amelia, I have a pocket mirror."

She blinked. "Um, that's nice."

Lina continued to grin. "If you pay me I'll let you use it."

Amelia stared puzzled, until the gears in her brain halted at the meaning of her words. "Miss Lina!"

Topa laughed. "If I had some money on me, I would take you up on that offer, sweetie."

Lina and Topa laughed as Amelia fumed and glared at the two women.

"Okay, we're finished," Gourry called.

Zelgadis had his back to them as he stared at the giant mud puddle before. His used his tail to wrap around his waist to preserve some dignity, at least it was useful for that. The mud look cold and slimy. He need he wouldn't full the full contact thanks to his stone skin. The most he could sense was temperature, but it was a dull down when it went through his skin. It didn't make the notion of covering himself in mud any better.

He groaned.

Topa huffed and marched up behind him. "Oh, stop being a wuss and get this over with!" As fast as lightening, she gave Zelgadis swift kick to the back. Zelgadis cried out as he fell and sunk into the mud. He plunged upwards gasping for air and he stared down to see the mud only went up to his waist.

"Was that really necessary?" He yelled at Topa.

"Come on!" Topa replied back. "You want that tail gone or not? Get splashing!"

Zelgadis twitched and sighed in defeat. he cupped his hands into the mud and dumped it over his head.

Gourry stuck out his tongue in disgust. "I would NOT want to be in his place right now." The girls nodded in agreement, even though Lina still thought it was funny.

Zelgadis continued to cup the mud and cover every inch of his body. Some of the mud in his hair began to dry out and stick in the needles. _That's going to be a pain to wash _he thought.

Suddenly, just as he finished coating his ears, he felt a tingle ripple through his body like had gotten a large static shook. His body felt lighter and he found it easier to move. He slowly reached behind him, but his fear died and turned to joy. He no longer felt that huge tail, Zelgadis had never been so happy to touch a his own bare bottom. "Thank Gods," he muttered.

"Is it gone Mister Zelgadis?" Amelia called out, cupping her hand over her mouth.

Zelgadis smiled and waddle his way back to the edge. "Yes, thank heavens!"

Lina pouted, while she scratched her head. It was feeling strangely itching. "Aw, too bad I thought you looked cuter with it." She shrugged. "Oh well, it was good while it lasted."

No one said a word. Everyone had suddenly paused and stared directly at her with wide eyes. Even Zelgadis had stopped his waddling to stare. Lina took a step back feeling very uncomfortable. "W-what's with the staring contest?"

Gourry sweated and pointed at her. "Cat ears."

Lina tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"

"You have cat ears on your head," he repeated.

Lina began to reach up. "What are you talking about? I don't-" She lost her voice as she felt them. A pair of slickly, furry pointed ears. Horrified, Lina brought out her pocket mirror and screamed at the image. "What the hell? Where did these come from?"

Topa stared at the ears intently. "Honey, you didn't by any chance tick off the Earth Spirit too, did ya?"

"Of course not!"

"Are you sure on that?"

Amelia grasped her chin in thought. "Well, you did break that vase as we were leaving the temple."

"Ah," Topa replied nodded. "Yup, that would do it!"

"Why would I get punished for breaking a stupid vase? I was venting my frustration!"

"Rules are rules honey," Topa replied. "The Earth Spirit doesn't like his valuables being broken."

"But how come the curse only appeared now?" Zelgadis asked, hiding his amusement.

"Curses vary, a big offense like you pulled gets an instant curse, but a minor one like hers takes it time to appear."

Lina tugged on her ears in attempt to make them go away. "What am I suppose to do? I refuse to live as a cat girl!"

Topa raised an eyebrow. "Did you not hear what I told your friend? There's only one solution." She pointed to the mud puddle. "You better start stripping."

The air was then full of Lina's angry screams and Zelgadis's laughter.


End file.
